Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Minifigure Review: Packs A-E from M.U.S.C.L.E. Aliens by Super7

I don't usually review more than one product release at a time but I'm going to be making an exception for the latest series of M.U.S.C.L.E. figures from Super7. I received a big package earlier this month that was filled with all five of the Aliens M.U.S.C.L.E. packs and all six of the Masters of the Universe M.U.S.C.L.E. packs. Since it would take so much time to review each set individually and I would largely be repeating myself in each intro, I decided to just combine Packs A, B, C, D, and E in one review. I hope you don 't mind! I really like Super7 and what they're doing. The M.U.S.C.L.E. revival is one of my favorite toy related things of the past few years. Super7 has a great thing going but I do hope they continue to focus on consistency in their minifigures. While this year's Street Fighter II series featured some of the best minifigures of the year with neat, clean, and crisp sculpts, the Mega Man series was atrocious. Fortunately, the Aliens series is closer to the Street Fighter II series with some decent sculpts and a less waxy appearance. Let's check out this whole series after the break...

The Facts: Pack A

Height: 1 1/4- 1 7/8ths inches

Includes: 3 figures

Non-Scalper Price: $6 dollars

*Bishop

The android Bishop is the shortest figure in the series but also one of the coolest. This is Bishop after he has been ripped apart and you can see his various robotic entrails and such leaking out. He's also sporting a pretty solid Lance Henriksen likeness for such a small figure, too. I love the look of shock on his face!

*Alien Warrior

The Xenomorph makes quite a few appearances line and this one is kind of the standard. The sculpt is not as sharp as the Alien Xenomorph but it's still pretty good. This guy looks like he's either giving the Vulcan salute or avoiding the paparazzi. I'd love to see these Aliens released in a metallic blue colorway. They'd look beautiful!

* Ripley with Newt

The third figure in Pack A is Ripley with Newt. Sigourney Weaver gets three more little plastic figures crafted in her likeness from this series and it's a toss up as to whether this one or the one permanently attached to the Power Loader is the cooler one. Both are extremely iconic but I definitely love this one. She looks like a boss toting Newt around while wielding a pulse rifle.

The Facts: Pack B

Height: 1 1/2- 2 inches

Includes: 3 figures

Non-Scalper Price: $6 dollars

* Ripley

The second Ripley is wielding her augmented flamethrower. I really like the design of the figure. It's interesting that Super7 went for less of a traditional M.U.S.C.L.E. aesthetic on the female figures than on the males, though.

* Alien Warrior (Mouth Open)

The Alien Warrior with its mouth open is taller than the others. The sculpt is pretty similar but the pose is certainly different. I'm also loving the second mouth popping out from the main mouth.

*Hicks

Hicks has an admirable Michael Biehn likeness for such a tiny, stylized figure. He's also wielding his shotgun and larger, M.U.S.C.L.E. styled fists.

The Facts: Pack C

Height: 1 3/4- 1 7/8ths inches

Includes: 3 figures

Non-Scalper Price: $6 dollars

* Vasquez

Vasquez is a very cool minifigure that nicely captures Jenette Goldstein's memorable performance as Private Vasquez. She wielding one of the massive smartguns she used in the film which is rendered quite nicely in less than 2 inches of plastic.

* Alien Warrior (Crouching)

The crouching Alien Warrior gives you a slightly different mold of the Xenomorph which is particularly useful if you're wanting to do a bit of army building. I like the crouching pose quite a bit; it's almost like the creature is about to pounce!

* Hudson

Man, I still miss good ol' Bill Paxton. His performance as Hudson just adds so much to Aliens, doesn't it? Here we get Hudson with appropriately M.U.S.C.L.E.ish oversized hands and a very worried expression on his face.

The Facts: Pack D

Height: 1 3/4- 2 5/8ths inches

Includes: 2 figures

Non-Scalper Price: $6 dollars

* Power Loader

One of the cool new innovations that Super7 has rolled out into the M.U.S.C.L.E. line in both the Aliens series and series 3 of Masters of the Universe is oversized M.U.S.C.L.E. figures. The Aliens series includes two 2-packs, the first of which is the Power Loader. I love the Power Loader and it makes for a very impressive looking miniature. There's a yellow variant, too, but I don't have it. Yet.

* Inside the Power Loader is a nicely sculpted little Ripley. She's not removable but she definitely looks like she could be. Super7 really did a very nice job with this. It's an incredible minifigure piece.

* The detail on the arms, pistons, and various other parts of the vehicle are covered with tiny, crisp details.

*Apone

Sgt. Apone is rocking the M.U.S.C.L.E. styled large hands and he's chomping a cigarette. I wish he were toting a gun, though, but I'll take what I can get. It's a miniature Al Matthews so that's cool in and of itself!

The Facts: Pack E

Height: 1 3/4ths to 2 3/4ths inches

Includes: 2 figures

Non-Scalper Price: $6 dollars

* Burke

Hey! It's a miniature Paul Reiser! He's also genuinely M.U.S.C.L.E.y although he doesn't quite like Paul Reiser. Still, the work on the outfit is nice.

* Alien Queen

This is an exceptional minifigure. Well, can you really call it a minifigure if it's well over 2 inches? Yeah, if it's in scale you can. The size on this is impressive. She's genuinely fearsome, too.

* Look at all of those appendages and vertebrae and other bits of Xenomorph anatomy. Pure win here.

* Comparison:

Here's a comparison of Ripley from the Aliens line (left) with the Ripley from the Alien line (right). The sculpts are largely on par with the first series although they are a bit softer in places. The plastic is also more, with more of a peach tone to it.

I'll break these down individually since I technically reviewed different releases, but I'll give some overall thoughts: I do think these are good minifigures and pretty much what I expect with Super7 (not as good as the Street Fighter II figures but not anywhere as terrible as the Mega Man releases). Here's the breakdowns:

Pack A: Great
Pack B: Good and a 1/2
Pack C: Good and a 1/2
Pack D: Epic
Pack E: Great